Their land habitat must be kept dry. Despite being semi-aquatic the can develop moisture sores which can become lethally infected. I have always followed the advice of dry land to save myself the head ache. The snakes will go into the water when they are ready to be moistened again. I usually use cypress mulch kept dry with a handful of damp sphagnum moss in a corner. I mean damp, not moist, just enough so that it isn't dry and crispy. A good amount for 2-3 ribbon snakes the width of a pencil and about 1 1/2 feet long to hide in can be measured by:



Take several compacted 1-handfuls of dry sphagnum, drench and soak it in water. Take only compact one handful and squeeze it dry as much as possible, and then fluff it up and put it in an area where the snakes can hide. This acts as an effective "moist-hide" that many snakes that like higher humidity usually enjoy having.



A spot to climb under a heat lamp is good too because they really enjoy getting high up to get nice and warm. Its been about a year since I have kept an Ribbon Snakes so I don't remember the basking spot temp off the top of my head, I do know that I used a 75 watt heat bulb though.



As far as keeping up with water they do defecate in it which requires water change as soon as noticed, as they drink from the same water. Also, luckily you only have one, as only 2-3 fish should be kept in the water dish at a time, unless mosquito fish, another pro to this species, as they can withstand oxygen starved waters for longer periods of time compared to many other fish species used as ribbon snake food. If more than 2-3 standard feeder fish or guppies are used, they may die and foul the water. Just be sure to check water daily for feces and dead fish.



A heat pad on the warm corner of the cage works too, especially if you add a cutting of household carpet over it to avoid direct belly-glass contact which can be a little too hot for the snake.



Also a monthly substrate change is highly recommended.

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